Five Benefits of Getting Manual Handling Training

Five Benefits of Getting Manual Handling Training

Regardless of what industry you are from, your job most likely calls for some form of manual handling. Manual handling is any activity that requires the exertion of your energy to lift, push, pull, or otherwise move something without the assistance of any machine. If you think about it, there are countless times that things are manually handled in one ordinary working day.

Now, imagine how one tiny incautious move could lead to injury to your back, legs, or arms. This is why manual handling training is imperative for employees everywhere. If you are still doubtful about providing manual training for your employees, here are five reasons to convince you otherwise:

1. Manual Handling Training Saves Money

Compensable workplace injuries are often the result of manual handling, some of which take several months to recover from, and those who sustained a serious injury may never recover at all. Not only does this cost your company a considerable amount of money, but it also affects the financial health of the injured employee’s family as well.

Manual handling training can lower the frequency of these workplace injuries by half, saving your company’s money as well as benefiting the workers’ families.

2. Workers Become More Cautious

If taking manual handling training is mandatory for workers, they would become more mindful of the risk of injury caused by their own negligence. This will motivate them to be more cautious to protect themselves from serious injury. As workers use safer and proper techniques for lifting and manually moving heavy loads, their risk of injury becomes lower, and if an accident does happen, their injury would most likely be milder.

3. Training Promotes Effective Communication and Discussion

When employees and employers go through manual handling training together and have a meeting about the training afterwards, open communication and effective brainstorming can follow. This results in better safety procedures being executed and put to use. In short, employees are more likely to follow the procedures that are implemented if they feel involved.

4. Employees Become More Responsible

When employees receive manual handling training, they become more aware that they also need to do their part by following the safety procedures and using the devices available to keep themselves safe from harm. In other words, employees will be able to understand that they are also responsible for their own safety and that the organisation could only do so much to keep the workplace safe.

5. Workers Can Use What They Learn Outside of Work

By taking manual handling training, workers and managers will learn about how to do many of the manual operations safely, which in turn will reduce the risk of injury. Moreover, the tips that they learn from the training can help the company stay in compliance with OHS laws.

The knowledge and information gained can also be applied outside the workplace as well. For example, you can use what you have learned to reduce the risk of sustaining injury when working around the house.

Summary

Every job comes with a form of manual labour and risks of injury. However, if you know how to lift and move loads properly and safely, your risk of injury and everyone in the workplace can be minimised.